1) Sleep More

Most of us need at least 7 hours, if not 8.  Here is an interesting story.  When I was in Army boot camp, we went to bed at 9 and got up at 5 every single day for 13 weeks.  Physically, I never felt better in my life.  Every week or two though, I would have to get up for an hour of “guard duty”, which meant I would only sleep 7 hours that night.  I could tell a huge decrease in my ability to focus and my mood by missing 1 hour of sleep!  I’m convinced many people would feel so much better and deal with stress better by taking sleep seriously.   

Make the room cold, dark (but interestingly not too dark or you may not be able to wake up as easily), and comfortable.  Sorry, but put the animals in the other room.  I love dogs but they are not good for a good night’s sleep.

2) Take a Nap

Throughout the day, fatigue develops as the brain takes in a large amount of stimuli.  Shutting off for a few minutes allows the brain to reorganize and “cull” unimportant information.  Thus, after a nap, we wake refreshed and able to focus better.  The best nap time is 20 minutes, unless you have time to do a full sleep cycle of 90-120 minutes.  This is because an hour nap tends to wake you up in the middle of a deep sleep, which can make you feel groggy and tired.  I try to take at least a 10 minute nap every day.

3) Go to bed at the same time every day

There are 2 sleep cycles: 1) REM, and 2) DEEP sleep.  Together, these cycles normally last about 90 minutes.  REM, or Rapid Eye Movement sleep is the brain’s prefrontal cortex doing it’s active work in processing the day’s events or thoughts or concerns.  DEEP sleep is the longer time of more unconscious sleep, of the brain releasing the hormones necessary to repair the body.   Dreams occur in REM sleep, while the unconscious brain is active in DEEP sleep.

4) Refrain from digital devices for an hour before bed

Light from digital devices can create a type of autistic overstimulation of the prefrontal cortex of the brain.   This means that if you look at a cellphone or tablet for a long time before bed, more than a minute, it could “fire up” the brain and make it harder to wind down and relax.  It is better to read or listen to relaxing music than it is to watch TV or look at devices.   I really don’t see how people watch the news before bedtime!  I would never be able to sleep.

5) Exercise in the morning

If you exercise in the morning, your adrenaline will be higher, and your circulating growth hormone, testosterone, and insulin will be higher throughout the day.  This means you will feel more awake, alert, and you’ll be more energetic.

6) Cut out sugar, excess alcohol, and processed carbs

Sugar and processed carbs, as good as they may taste, do cause energy spikes and crashes.  To feel better and have more energy, moderate your intake of these items.  Alcohol is a depressant so it is obvious that it will kill your energy.

7) Eat more good fat

Good fats are excellent for the brain and an excellent source of energy.  And they taste good!  Omega 3 Fatty Acids are a form of polyunsaturated fat, and they are basically a miracle food for brain function, improving memory, blood flow, and focus.  The brain is at least 60 % fat and it is mainly made up of Omega 3 fats which must be obtained from the diet.  This is one reason these types of fat are so important during pregnancy when the baby’s brain and nervous system are developing.   Nerve cells in the brain are what allow the brain to function and these are refreshed by new supplies of fatty acids.  A healthier brain is a more energetic one.

From Amy Paterul of the Cleveland Clinic:

To improve brain health, experts recommend reducing the amount of saturated fat (which is very common in the American diet) and replacing it with healthy fats like olive oil and omega-3s. One of the best ways to make the switch is by following a Mediterranean diet — fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, and fish. The staples of this diet are loaded with omega-3 fats such as alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), a plant-based fat found in flaxseed, pumpkin seeds, walnuts and canola oil, and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), which are found in fish oil, cold-water fish and supplements.

In a study of 1,600 Dutch men and women published in Neurology, researchers found that those who ate fish regularly scored higher on a battery of tests for memory, psychomotor speed, cognitive flexibility and overall cognition. Moreover, the researchers claimed that consuming EPA and DHA specifically contributed to the boost in brainpower.

“Several studies show a link between omega-3 fatty acid docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) found in fish oil and decreased risk of Alzheimer’s disease as well as overall cognitive decline,” says Kristin Kirkpatrick, MS, RD, manager of disease reversal at the Cleveland Clinic. The best sources of DHA are fatty fish like mackerel, lake trout, herring, sardines, albacore tuna and salmon.

In one study, researchers tracked roughly 15,000 people in seven countries and found that those who ate the most fish were the least likely to develop dementia. Incidentally, they also found that eating meat increased the risk of dementia.

“There’s an interaction between diet and genes that determines how much and how soon plaques build up in the brain,” says Murali Doraiswamy, MD, professor of psychiatry, chief of the Biological Psychiatry Division at Duke University Medical Center and coauthor of The Alzheimer’s Action Plan. “For example, if rats eat a high-fat, high-cholesterol diet, their brains get riddled with these amyloid plaques.” Not so if they’re on a low-cholesterol diet.

Need more reasons to load up on healthful omega-3 fatty acids? Studies show omega-3s can improve your mood. Researchers think the powerful fatty acids help nerve cells communicate better. That means feel-good brain chemicals like serotonin and dopamine can get in and out of the cell more easily, translating to a better mood. In fact, researchers from the National Institutes of Health report that omega-3 fatty acids are as effective at treating major depressive illness as commonly prescribed antidepressant drugs. Other studies have found that frequent fish consumption is associated with a decreased risk of depression and suicidal thoughts. What’s more, there’s increasing evidence that omega-3s help alleviate symptoms associated with other mood disorders, including psychotic disorders and bipolar disorder.

8) Move more

Sitting has been called the new smoking for good reason.  It is bad for posture, for digestion, and it contributes to weight gain and other health issues.  Plus, not moving can make you feel sluggish.  Get up and walk every hour or use a stand up desk.

9) Focus on 1 thing at a time

After 10 minutes on any subject, attention wanes.  The cognitive switching penalty is the focus-killing penalty for multi-tasking.  The brain literally cannot switch back and forth between two stimulations and function well.  Multi-tasking is impossible.  It is better to stay focused on 1 thing at a time and try to get into a sense of flow. 

10) Breathe

Focusing on deep breathing increases oxygen flow to the brain and heart and lungs and muscles.   Oxygen is required for cellular energy production.  If you breathe deeper, you will have more energy and feel better.  This is actually one reason smokers, even though they are killing themselves, feel better temporarily after smoking- the deep breathing. 

11) Listen to upbeat music

This has actually been studied extensively.  Listening to upbeat music decreases fatigue and increases motivation.  So go ahead and put on that techno club music or the Rocky theme song.  It’s scientific!

12) Caffeine

Caffeine is a tricky subject.  Too much can cause energy crashes, but just the right amount can significantly help with energy, performance, and focus.  Too much caffeine can cause crippling anxiety because it blocks the calming hormone GABA, so be careful.  1 or cups of coffee in the morning and 1 cup of tea in the afternoon seems to be the best mix.  I love coffee and tea so these are two of my favorite part of the day.

13) Improve Your Posture

Did you know that by standing upright, breathing deeply, making eye contact, speaking louder,           and taking up more space and spreading your chest out, you will boost your energy     hormones? Sometimes you have to pretend like you are more energetic until you really are.

14) Avoid Energy-Sucking People, or at Least Beware of Them

Some people are going to suck the life out of you.  They complain, they are low-energy, they are not happy, and they could care less about goals, projects, or about making your situation or their situation better.  These people will literally suck the energy right out of you.  I’m sorry but you need to avoid these people if you can, or at least beware that that’s what they are doing.  Their “game” is usually one you are playing without even realizing it.  The next thing you know, you feel bad and tired after being around them.

There are other ways to have more energy but these are some of my favorites.

Print this list out and study it. 

Practice these things and you will feel better and have more energy.

If you like this article, please share it with others or on social media.

Cheers!

Read Next: The 5 Senses

Quick Note: I put up a 10 Minute Video - "My Top 10 Core Exercises of All Time" on my Youtube Channel: www.youtube.com/watch?v=BkGvW4122lc
Enjoy!

Right around the start of the year I started using the tagline:

“Fitness from the Inside Out.” TM

But what does this mean?

What this means is that FITNESS STARTS ON THE INSIDE, NOT ON THE OUTSIDE.  

You can be as buff as you want to on the outside, and still not be fit.  I know many tough and fit people who have never been inside a gym.  I know many people who are not physical powerhouses, not good-looking, and don’t have 6 pack abs, but who none - the - less are living the dream life and are completely fit.

In this post, I’m going to fill you in on how true fitness is built, from the inside out. 
Specifically, this post will explain exactly how you can be fit from the inside out through:

Values, Goals, Projects & Habits

But first, a little background….and a little wake-up call.

The days of having someone else boss you around are over.  You are in charge.  You need to take over as CEO of your life. 

Here’s one big reason why:

One of the great changes of the past 50 years has been the de-industrialization of America.  This along with the rise of personalized technology and many other factors has led to stagnant wages and gloomy job prospects for many workers.  Even the college-educated feel aggrieved, and the Bernie Sanders campaign for student loan debt relief garnered a huge amount of support among Gen. Y and millennials as they bear the brunt of the “Ponzi scheme” of sky - rocketing college education cost inflation, backed by the US govt. and US taxpayers.  

Any way you cut it, the prospects for American workers and for the college-educated are not rosy.  I’ve talked to dozens and dozens of people who are going through the same problems.  The days of showing up at a job after college, or high school, and staying there a long time, are over for most people.  The days of going to work, having someone tell you what to do, and clocking out at 5:01 pm are long gone.

Just a quick look at a few things:

• Manufacturing has been in decline, and this will more than likely continue.

• Corporate work is commonly now only contract work and requires independence.

• College tuition is going higher and higher, while wages and salaries are stagnant.

• The US savings rate is virtually non-existent.  This means Americans are spending, but not saving.  This means Americans think about today, but not about tomorrow. 

• 50% of Americans don’t have any savings.

• 7/10 Americans have less than $1000.

• Wages for American workers have not increased, adjusted for inflation, since the late 1960s.

• The National Debt is spiraling larger and larger.

• The US govt. must keep spending more and more money to keep the economy afloat, and this continues to punish the middle class by reducing Consumer Banking Interest rates to 0%.  In other words, Americans who save and invest for the future are being punished in the current monetary system, while the returns in the market will continue to flow to the top. 

• The political rhetoric has shifted to promoting a “victim” mentality and an “aggrieved identity” politics for more and more people, which also vilifies entrepreneurship, self-reliance, and hard work, just as the economy is requiring more and more entrepreneurship, self-reliance, and hard work.   This attitude of narcissistic victimhood is hurting those who need to be thinking differently the most.

• Public schools and even colleges are trapped in an industrial time-warp, preparing students to be obedient factory workers or corporate drones, when the skill-set they need is the exact opposite.

• Even though most employment opportunities in the US are low-wage service jobs, un-employment is even higher in Europe than in the US for low-wage work (Greece 25%, Spain 20% vs. 6% here in the US).  For teenagers and young adults under 25, these numbers jump to 50% unemployment in Europe.  With more and more socialism coming to the US, more than likely these type of unemployment numbers are heading our way.

To put it bluntly, for the most part, NO ONE CARES ABOUT YOU. 

You, my friends, are on your own.   You can either…

• Stick your head in the sand and pretend this is not happening
• Blame the “System”, the government, men, corporations, rich people, or whoever else you want to blame for your problems, OR

You can start to take control of your own life.

So where does this leave us?  What should we do? How should we manage this volatile situation?

It’s time for a new approach.  
Every American needs to hear this. 
The following should be taught in school. 
If the following 4 questions were part of every school or formative experience, this would be a dramatically different and much more successful country.

Most people sleepwalk through life and never answer these questions, but they need to. 

Every American needs to be aware of and answering these questions, particularly the young:

1) What are your values? What is most important to you? What do you want to look back on and be proud of at the end of your life?  What do you love the most?
Examples: Family, Financial Security, God, Health, Adventure, Romance, Education, Physical Fitness, Cooking at Home, Healthy Food, etc.

2) What are your goals?  What are you doing to reflect the values you listed in your life?

3) What projects are you going to work on which will help you complete your goals?  Which specific things do I need to do to accomplish these goals?

4) What are the habits that you need in order to complete your projects?  What are my bad habits now?  Which habits do I need to develop in order to achieve my goals?

Now let’s go through an example:

Roberta, 32, wakes up one day and realizes she is going nowhere at her HR job.  After 10 years, she still makes $33,000 per year, even though she has become proficient at spreadsheets and the hiring process and the company has profited millions.  The people she works with are unethical, depressing, and catty.  She hasn’t had a boyfriend since she was 26, and she has become addicted to reality TV.  She never calls her old friends and rarely see her parents.  She has not done any sort of charitable giving, volunteering, or exercise, for a long time.  Roberta overeats when she is emotional. 

BUT, when Roberta does this simple exercise of VALUES, GOALS, HABITS, PROJECTS, a series of light bulbs go off and she wants to live a fuller and more joyful life:

Roberta:

Value- My health
Goals: 1) Exercise Daily 2) Eat Better 3) Lose 10 Pounds
Projects & Habits:

• Cut out fried food, candy bars, soft drinks
• Lay out exercise clothing the night before
  
• Exercise in the morning before work
• Weigh myself every day

Value- Family
Goals: Spend more time with my family.
Projects & Habits:

• Call my family once a month
  
• Invite my family over once a month for dinner

Value- Travel and New Experiences
Goals: Get out and see something different once a month
Projects & Habits

• Visit local attractions and sites within a couple hour drive
• Buy a travel book on the state of Georgia
• Plan a once in a lifetime trip to somewhere grand

Value- Relationships
Goals:  1) Date more 2) Make new friends and stay in touch better with old friends
Projects & Habits

• Start a regular coffee hour with friends to catch up
• Join 3 social groups to meet more people
• Update wardrobe
• Get a better haircut

Value- Community Involvement
Goals- Volunteer Once a Month
Projects & Habits

• Research potential volunteer organizations
• Pick out 3 organizations and talk to them about helping out
• Pick 1 and commit to a schedule

Value- Career Advancement
Goals- Make $10,000 more per year
Projects & Habits

• Acquire 1 New Skill
• Ask for a raise
• Start a Side Business
• Read business books in the evening instead of watching reality TV

So there it is:

VALUES, GOALS, PROJECTS, HABITS… and at the end of every year, re-calibrate.

This formula allowed me to make an income I never would have dreamed possible, own my own gym for a time, serve in the military, write 2 books, get a Master’s degree, travel all over the world, study martial arts, exercise every day, cook, stay out of debt, read a lot and volunteer, and spend plenty of time with my family and friends.     

It also allowed me to make some modifications and commit more time to spirituality and to skill acquisition.  It also allowed to recalibrate when I get off track.

One thing I value is FOCUS, which for me, and I think a lot of people, is challenging so this one is a work in progress.  I am naturally very intellectually curious so my mind can get sidetracked easily.  I value FOCUS but do not always live that way, so I am working on improving this by deleting Facebook and other social media on my iphone. 

Pass it on, spread the word, and let the world know.

This formula could change the world because we all need to be self-starters now.
If you don’t know what your values are, it’s time to spend some time alone.  Take a piece of paper or a notebook up into the mountains and work on being alone and seeing what happens. 

What’s important to you? What gets you excited?  What interests you?  For me, it is finding the truth. 

That’s why philosophy, religion, politics, psychology, culture, family, economics, science, and spirituality get my juices going.  These are the things I Iove and value the most. 

What about you?

 Read Next: It's Not About Trying
 

Hey Everyone,
Just a quick note to let you know that I am putting up new videos on the Youtube Channel every week:

Click on "Playlists" to see videos on...Back Pain, Exercise, Food & Nutrition, General Health Tips, and Motivation.

My goal is to put things up frequently and focus on content and not worry too much about making the videos perfect, so I'm going to have fun and help you at the same time,

I'm always looking for ways to keep in touch and provide value for you.  Let me know what you think and let me know your questions

Enjoy:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCW8FOIV_gnDWHwAMUEdVGDA

Why is it so hard to eat healthy? What can I do to eat healthier? Why does it seem more expensive to eat healthy?

In general it is difficult to eat healthy in America because the deck is stacked against us. 
This is the key factor:

We have an abundance of high calorie, low nutrient food readily available and we are not awake to our eating and it is making us sick.

The big food industry is making a fortune by producing cheap and generally nutritionally deficient food.  I bought some sweet potatoes the other day, one of my favorite things to eat, and I swear it didn’t taste like anything.  It was disgusting.  I threw it in the trash and ate an entire tomato instead.  Advances in crop production and the use of pesticides and GMOs has made crops really cheap and easy to produce but have also reduced the taste and healthiness of vegetables. 

GMOs, genetically-modifed organisms, are present in about 90% of corn, soybeans, and cotton.  The chances are likely you have had some today.  Smarter people than you or I disagree about whether they are dangerous, but like credit card debt, contentious women, and bad parts of town, out of the precautionary principle I try to avoid them (and many other things) if I can.  GMOs do make crops resistance to disease and give us cheap food and cheap sugar and generally help feed a growing population.  In that sense that they have made starvation less likely world-wide so the jury is still out. 

Fast food is on every corner in America and has been proven to lead to more obesity.  I'm not saying it should be illegal and the last thing we need are more taxes.  Also, there is a reason it is popular: it is good, or the fat, salt, and sugar make it taste good anyway, and it is relatively cheap and easy.  Fast food is something you do not see in other countries, although when I was in Jordan recently, I noticed Popeye’s has arrived.  It will be interesting to see if we export our health problems like obesity and depression to other countries.  The best food I have ever had in my life out of 30 plus countries visited was street food in Mexico, and it tasted nothing like the Mexican food here.  That tells you something about how food has gone wrong here with cheap, tasteless pre-packaged junk dosed with salt, sugar, and food to make it taste good.  

In general to bring back taste and to eat healthier, we need a drastic change.  We need to slow down and make better choices.  We need to divide labor within the household and make the cooking process run smoother.  It’s cliché to say this, but when I was a kid we really did eat a home-cooked meal at 5:30 or 6 every evening.  My Mom spent hours canning vegetables out of the garden.  It is soothing when I think of the sound of that pressure cooker and the lid rattling on a summer afternoon.

The key concept to eating healthier on a budget is this:

There is a mental, physical, and spiritual struggle being waged for your life which includes the junk food you quickly cram in your mouth. 

You have to realize that your supposed “freedom” to eat and do whatever you want is usually nothing more than mind-manipulation by corporations who have designed high-tech marketing strategies to get you to hand over your wallet, waist line, and way of life to them.  I’m not saying they are evil (in all cases) or are doing this to purposely hurt you, but that’s just the truth.  They are in the money business, and can’t care one way or the other what happens to you.

Corporations can’t love you, so when it comes to food, they could care less what happens to you. It’s not that they don’t care about your health, it’s that they can’t.

2/3 of America is overweight, childhood obesity is growing, particularly among the poor, and 1/2 the country is using drugs for mental illness and a big reason for that is our overall approach to food and eating.  Food, families, and communities are an afterthought, not the very reason for our existence, so we have everything completely backwards.

It’s not a big deal if you drink the occasional coke or eat cake every now and then.  I certainly do.  What matters is the overall big picture.  How do we approach food? How do we think about food?  Who are we eating with? What does it mean that we have so much available, yet we are still sick and depressed as a Nation? 

These are tough questions.

Desperate times call for desperate measures……………

10 tips to Eat Healthier on Budget:

Buy food and cook it in bulk.
Buy more of something at one time to get a volume discount.
Cook in advance, like on Sunday afternoon, so you can have some pre-cooked food available during the week.
Some of the bigger stores offer big discounts on bulk purchases.

Eat Less in General.
This is easy.  If you can learn to eat less, you will save money.
Fasting, fiber, and drinking more water can help with this.

Eat Slower.
Take your time.  Slow down and enjoy the taste of what you are eating.  Eating should be the best part of the day.
Think about what you are eating when you eat.
Say a blessing or at least be thankful for what you have.

Look for and use coupons.
This is self - explanatory.  There are many good coupons online and in the newspaper and on smartphone apps.

Eat Less Meat.
Protein is usually the most expensive thing on the grocery list, so eat less meat.
Try to find a local cattle farmer to buy your beef from.  We bought from my grandpa growing up.
Raise your own eggs.  I know several people in Atlanta who do this.

Eat Out Less.
You can easily save several hundred dollars per month by cooking and eating at home.

Eat More Fiber and Drink More Water.
Fibrous fruits like apples, grapes, and melons as well as fibrous vegetables make you feel full and are low on calories.
Water will make you feel full with zero calories and cost.

Fast
Fasting teaches you to go without, builds self-discipline, saves money, shrinks your stomach, and helps you to appreciate what you have.  Shoot for skipping one meal 3 times per week.  That is about $15-30.

Eat more rice, whole grains, and beans
Plant proteins are cheaper, healthier, and have more fiber than meat.

Shop at Farmer’s Markets
Shopping at no-frills farmers markets makes it easier to eat in-season foods.  This is better for the environment and helps the local economy. *try to avoid the farmer’s markets where the yuppies drinking $8 Starbucks lattes congregate as these tend to be more expensive.
 
Bonus: Be a creature of habit and eat the same thing for certain meals on a regular basis.

• If you know you are going to eat the same thing for breakfast, for example, it takes the guesswork out of it, and makes it less likely that you will go out to eat on the way to work.

The things I want to improve at are: 1) eating out less and 2) cooking more vegetarian salads with high-fiber and high-protein beans in them. 

What about you? What are you going to work on? How can you eat healthier and save money at the same time?

Cut this out and paste it on the wall or refrigerator.

Share the article with a friend.

Let’s do this.
 
Read Next: Lactic Acid, the Natural Painkiller